Fincantieri, the Italian shipbuilder, agreed to take control of WSense, a Rome company that develops wireless communication and monitoring systems for use underwater. The deal was announced on 6 July 2026 as one of four acquisitions in underwater technology.
No price was given for WSense. The four deals together involve an initial outlay of about EUR 600 million (about $700 million), funded mainly by a EUR 500 million (about $580 million) capital increase Fincantieri completed in February 2026.
WSense will keep its management and governance and continue to operate as a separate deep-tech company, according to the announcement reported by Startupbusiness. Completion depends on Italian Golden Power and foreign direct investment clearances and on minority shareholders accepting the offer.
How the deal works
Fincantieri is not buying WSense shares directly. A special purpose vehicle, in which Fincantieri holds a stake, will buy the shares. The founding shareholders will transfer their holdings into the vehicle and reinvest 75% of them, while the vehicle signs share purchase agreements with all the other WSense shareholders.
At the end of this first phase Fincantieri will own 61.95% of the vehicle. Within 24 months of closing it will raise that holding to 75%, and the vehicle will own about 95% of WSense, Naval News reported. Put and call options over the following three financial years are priced on WSense's performance in 2028, 2029 and 2030.
“This transaction marks the start of a new phase of development for WSense and represents a moment of great satisfaction in our journey as a scale-up.”
What WSense built
WSense started as a spin-off from Sapienza University of Rome and is led by chief executive Chiara Petrioli. It makes underwater modems, wireless underwater networks and monitoring systems, an area the industry calls the Internet of Underwater Things.
Its technology lets platforms, sensors and vehicles exchange data underwater. Fincantieri has already built WSense systems into its DEEP demonstrator for monitoring and protecting critical underwater infrastructure and into several infrastructure monitoring projects, and the two have bid jointly on national and international tenders.
Fincantieri said WSense's expertise in underwater communications would support the group's wider underwater strategy by connecting platforms, sensors and vehicles into networks that are more autonomous and resilient.
A relationship that began as a partnership
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2023. WSense raised EUR 9 million (about $10.5 million) in October 2023 and EUR 7.2 million (about $8.4 million) in April 2025, when Fincantieri took a stake. Fincantieri also joined a further EUR 10 million (about $11.6 million) round in October 2025, and the companies signed a strategic partnership in February 2026.
Petrioli said the transaction opened a new phase for the company and would strengthen its ability to sell its technology worldwide while keeping its independence. The sources did not report WSense's headcount or revenue.
Startupbusiness described the transaction as a model in which a large industrial group invests directly in a deep-tech company and supports its growth with industrial know-how, access to global markets and operating capabilities, rather than buying it outright and absorbing it.
Fincantieri's underwater push
Alongside WSense, Fincantieri agreed to buy control of Next Geosolutions, a listed marine survey and offshore services group, at EUR 16.25 a share, valuing all of it at EUR 780 million (about $905 million). It also bought 51% of autonomous underwater vehicle maker Graal Tech and agreed to take an initial 49% of Defcomm, which builds uncrewed surface vessels.
Fincantieri's underwater business had revenue of EUR 667 million (about $775 million) in 2025. With the four companies, the group expects pro forma underwater revenue above EUR 1.1 billion (about $1.3 billion) in 2026, with EBITDA of about EUR 220 million (about $255 million). Chief executive Pierroberto Folgiero said the group would keep the acquired companies' management teams in place.
Fincantieri said the four acquisitions would add more than EUR 60 million (about $70 million) to its 2026 net profit and would not affect its net debt to EBITDA guidance for the year. Folgiero called the deals a historic transformation that would create an international champion in the underwater domain.
